Ministry of Like Minds: Crossroads - Gain vs Loss

Ministry of Like Minds: Crossroads - Gain vs Loss

Crossroads - Gain vs Loss

"For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else"


We spend pretty much our entire life in trading with our inner most beliefs. It's not what you want that is important but what you don't want certainly is very important, that's what the world around you will make you believe.


I always wanted to be a movie director and direct great action and comic movies. Movies like "Die Hard" series, "Terminator" series, "Indiana Jones" series,"Dumb and Dumber", "School of Rock", "American Pie" series, the list is endless. And every time I see these movies, the director in me pops out and does what it does the best, remake the entire movie in my own style, script, sequence, shot, casting! (of course all this happens in the Deep Limbic System of my brain) 


What is Deep Limbic System? 
The deep limbic system (DLS) is in the central area of the brain and is about the size of a walnut. It plays a vital role in setting a person's emotional state. Like a mental photo album, the DLS stores highly charged emotional memories, both positive and negative.


So I was talking about movies...actually directing movies to be precise!
Yes, that was and still is my passion, I guess I have been nurturing it for the past 20 years now. I remember once telling it to my parents and they obviously took it as a joke, because back then I was in school and guess what? I was struggling with my grades so my folks thought I am building this escape route to avoid my studies (they were right regarding my escape plan :) but...somehow I always wanted to be a movie director) being a Movie Director...well I missed it!


Moving on, after putting my dreams of becoming the "Next Best Movie Director of All time" (at least I love to believe so!) in to the thrash can. I picked up something more interesting, more fascinating. Music!


Now when I say music, I mean listening to music only and not playing any musical instrument (thats another wish I missed!). I remember the first music artist who I was introduced to was... "Michael Jackson" via his "Dangerous" music album which came out in 1992! This does not mean I never heard music before 1992...but I never fell in love with Music as such until I heard the Man in the Mirror himself. However, the craze for music and collecting albums was initiated by our very own MJ (RIP! you were and still the best). I remember when Dangerous was released, I saw Black or White video on our national TV (Doordarshan, those days DD was the only option, unlike now we have countless channels!) and the moment I saw and heard Black or White my love for music was ignited and that fire is very much well guarded in fact it's now uncontrollable (ask my wife been driving her mad with my music obsession). Music gives me wings! (not referring to Reb Bull advertisement!) but yes it uplifts me and my mood completely. If I am happy I want to hear some great music, if I am sad I still want to hear some great sad songs, if I am driving, my car should and will be buzzing with music. It's like music has become an eternal part of my life now. I thought I will pick up and learn guitar or play keyboard, some music instrument, but somehow I could not! Again, I missed it!


On the other hand when I was busy collecting music and watching great movies, I picked up something creative, something satisfying as an artist....Sketching!
In class 7th to be accurate, I drew a sketch of a man wearing goggles with side-locks. I remember my Maths class was in progress and I was least  interested in what my teacher was teaching, but rather I started to scribble on the last page of my note book. Little did I know my scribble will turn out to be my one more passion. Sketching! I still have my first authentic sketch of that guy wearing goggles. Many more master pieces came out of my hand and have preserved all of them till date. Drew crazy stuff like, Spiderman to Horses, Cars to Bikes, simply enjoyed sketching back then. In 1999 I officially stopped sketching post my graduation. Why? I don't know. I guess moving on in life (running after higher studies, partying, enjoying with friends the usual blame game!) I completely sidelined my hidden talent and started running after life! Again I missed it! 


Then came the real serious stuff. Job! I started working in 2002, joined a BPO at an entry level. Back then in 2002, this job was not planned it just happened to me. I was out of a relationship with my ex-girlfriend and to deviate my mind  of her I took up this job (of course I appeared some 7 to 8 rounds of interviews to get selected...wasn't easy dude!) I seriously did not know anything about how to work in an office space but I just went with the flow. I was lucky enough to join a team where 70% of the population were girls!....actually "Hot Looking Girls" :) and rest were boys with funny and cool attitude. It's in this same team I met this really hot and cool girl and I knew the moment I saw her she is the 'ONE'. Funny how within a span of 2 months I broke up with my ex girl and fell in love all over again with this new girl (who eventually turned out to be my now lovely wife) Love can happen again! Trust me! (all you heartbroken people...piece of advice... just be patient and wait for the next girl to walk into your life) it sounds easy but it's not :) I know. So my first job (I am still working in the same company for the past 8 years) taught me a lot. Team work, synergy, performance, potential, perseverance, patience, growth, target, promotion, attrition, appreciation, rewards, off-sites, on-sites, projects, integrity, compliance...I can go on and on. I have worked in multiple domains within my 8 years of professional career. Every time I used to get comfortable with a particular domain I started having that itch and wanted something new to learn. That hunger for learning is still there. 
I am now stuck in a body which is bounded by a Lanyard which needs to be swiped from Monday to Friday at the entrance gate of my office premises. Spend certain hours in the office to justify my salary and earn my bread. I love my job. It was not "love at first sight" scene with my job frankly speaking, but yes, now after spending 8 years with it, I feel I have grown in this man to work relationship. Did I miss this! No! guess not :)


Did I give up on love when I was chasing my girlfriend to say yes to me (she made me do crazy and bizarre things for 2 whole years!), no I did not give up. Did I take no for an answer from her (even when she said once to me "I will rather die than to marry you"), No I did not! Did I get married to my girlfriend in spite of spending painful 2 years of chasing her doing special things for her, YES I got married to the same babe who said once "I will die but not marry someone like you"...of course it's a once in a lifetime experience to turn around a complete hell bent NO into a big YES :) (I simply cherish my courtship period...done crazy stuff to woo her, trust me)


I am married to her for the past 6 years now. Did I not commit any mistakes or did we not have our share of ups and downs. Yes! we had and yes I have committed blunders! Did our mistakes shake our marriage, No! it did not because the amount of understanding and trust, I and my wife share is beyond imagine. It's insane how we both can face rough weathers, stand next to each other and still smile.You need to be lucky to have a life partner like this. Did I miss this! NO CERTAINLY NOT!


The point I am making here is....

I did not pursue movie direction or continue with my sketching but rather joined the bandwagon of regular dream chasers. Complete school, graduate college, get a job, fall in love, get married and raise kids. Thats what most of us will do or are doing currently as I type. At some point in time we all reach crossroads where we need to take decisions. Some of it happens by choice while others happen by chance. As we get into our mid life cycle and cross 30. Life demands more challenges, more perseverance, more patience in order to survive and be happy. Till now I have reached many crossroads of my life where in I took decisions by choice and by chance. It will be interesting to see for the next 30 years of my life what more crossroads this life has to offer me and what decisions I would take... will they be by chance or by choice...thats a question I am currently asking myself daily and hopefully one day I will get all the answers! Did I miss this.... Not yet I suppose :)

Networking Sites - Worth It?

Now who does not want to be noticed, or talked about, who does not like to be Googled, or get searched on Facebook, followed on Twitter, post Blogs like this one...etc.....let's be really frank! We all want to be noticed in one way or the other. Good, Bad and Ugly are the synonyms of the way we would like to express, but we all just want to express somehow! At times we just want to show the rest of the world that we have xxx number of friends on our network, how about that! Why because everybody loves to be loved and like to flaunt that we have more friends than the next guy or the girl at our office, school, college so on and so forth! We want the world to know that we are also changing with time, so what if we really do not know the meaning of change or do not know how change works, but yes we will fake it with our own ideas and opinions by posting comments or status updates so weired in nature at times when we go back and read them we actually struggle to understand "what on earth did I post just now...what was I thinking or not thinking, maybe :)"...Welcome to the world of networking!

Now there are others who would say "hey I post what I feel and think is right" so what if we are thinking all the time and finding a reason to share it with the world, right! Just to get everyones attention. The point is we are trying to proclaim that we are no less than Albert Einstein or Vincent Van Gogh or Bill Gate or Jack Welch. Again our intention is that we want all to know that we have been there and have done that! Listen to us if you need redemption: if you get it (the redemption part) our job is done! We will definitely feel great, on top of the world! Victory is ours and we have followers!...A fan is born :)

Digging further, we will see some of us just following what is in fashion, the latest trend, whether it makes sense or not, whether we are comfortable with the idea or not! Facebook, Twitter, Blogging are totally in these days! So what if we don't know how to manage these sites, our friends are on it, their friends friends are on it, hence going by the maths we have to be on it! Why because thats the logical progression. Until mid 2000, we simply use to pick up our cellphones and talk to our friends, but now, thanks to technology which is the only next best thing after god almighty, our friends prefer Facebook updates, or would like to be followed on Twitter or would like to spread gyaan via blogging sites by scripting self proclaimed thoughts and opinions free of cost... because that is the cool thing to do and requires less effort provides greater impact! Minimum effort maximum profit, in terms of the touch point. One update, one write up will be viewed by hundreds and thousands of people simultaneously across geographical zones, all at the same time, amazing bandwidth, control, totally awesome.  Bye Bye verbal communication!

Well the reasons are endless and the way we utilize such sites are also infinite in number. Happy, Sad, Angry, Weak, Aggression, Hate, Love, Lonely, Awesome ...whatever is the expression...we just love to share them all for good or bad that is immaterial to us now! Sharing is totally in...Freedom of Expression is totally in! Communication has increased 100 times more than what it used to be sometime back, written communication is at its prime. Look at the internet traffic, it is berserk! insane!  In the process, verbal communication has definitely taken a huge hit purely because we no longer prefer talking to someone when we know we can text them nice n easy! Text is here to stay!

Change is inevitable! Communication has changed from verbal to written format, immensely. Soon there will be another change, written form getting pushed over by something more easier more quicker, look at the Na'vi people in the movie 'Avatar', they were communicating through their hair for god sakes! We can replicate that soon, who knows, just a matter of time! Bottom line is we all want the easy way out to communicate! Truth, most of the time is bitter in nature, but it remains - The Truth 


Networking site is the generation next! This is the future of communication and it will get better for some might get worse for others.....its the way you want to express, feel, make the choice, ultimately and absolutely!